What the Heart Wants
by Roadtrip the Pickpocket
Summary: David tells a story of his lost love to his niece and nephew.
1. The Start

A/N: Here's a romance story I came up with. I don't think there's much for me to say except that I could use some more characters for my third story, but I suppose I could make up enough characters if I wanted.

The twenty-eight year old sat in his favorite chair next to the window so he could see his niece and nephew arrive. He ran his hand through his curly brown hair as he looked down at the picture in his hand. Though the picture was in black and white, he still remembered how her curly brown hair never managed to get tamed and the way her brown eyes would light up when she was happy. The picture itself was a wedding photo, although the groom in the picture wasn't him. He sighed as he put the picture away.

Before he could do much of anything, four people came through the front door. The first one was his older sister, Sarah. She was two years older than him and she never let him forget it. After her came her husband, Jack Kelly. He had legally changed his name from Francis Sullivan after the strike in 1899. He was followed closely by their oldest child, a ten year old daughter named Paulette Esther Kelly. She was named after both of her grandmothers. The last in the line was their eight year old son, Jacob Mayer Kelly.

Sarah smiled as her children ran to their uncle. She looked at her younger brother, worriedly. She had noticed that he had been acting weirdly the last couple of times they had visited, "Thanks again for agreeing to take care of Paulette and Jacob for us, David. We've had this planned for a while and the babysitter just cancelled on us last minute. Never using her again."

David waved as if to show it was nothing, "It's all right, Sarah. I love spending time with the kids. Now you crazy kids have fun."

Sarah was about to say something else but Jack started pulling her towards the door, "Come on, honey. Davey knows how to handle them. We'll see you later, Dave. Maybe we can talk when we get back from dinner."

David nodded as Paulette climbed on to his lap and Jacob sat on the floor. As Sarah and Jack walked out, Paulette bounced up and down, "Now, Uncle Davey...it's time for our story!"

David laughed as he patted his niece's head, "That's right, and whose turn is it to pick the story?"

Paulette raised her hand, "It's mine! I get to pick and I want the story about you and the girl!"

Jacob stuck his tongue out, "Aww...no fair. You always pick that story and it's so mushy...I wanna hear about the mutant ants that destroy the world!"

David ruffled Jacob's hair, "Sorry kid, but it is her turn. Next time, I'll tell you a story about the vampire zombies from Mars. Anyways, let's see if I can remember...This story begins on June 8th, 1900. I was selling like I'd done every day for almost a year..."

As he talked, the images grew stronger in his head, almost as if it were yesterday.

_**June 8th, 1900**_

As I finished up selling, I went to where most of the newsies hang out, Tibby's. As I got there, I saw a lot of the guys and their girls. Singer, Coin, Skittery, and Racetrack were all sitting together, talking animatedly. Mush, Blink, and Blink's girl Daisy all sat together as well. Les, Jack, and I took a seat at an empty table, talking about something or other. I don't really remember because at that moment I saw her.

She had just walked into the dining area from where the employees were. She was wearing a red waitress outfit with a white apron over it. Her hair was pulled up in a bun and she was carrying four plates of food. I couldn't take my eyes off of her.

I watched her as she walked right past my table and to the table that Coin and the others sat at. I continued staring as she handed each one their food and she joked around with them as if she knew them. I turned to Jack, "Hey, Jack...who is that waitress?"

Jack turned to where I pointed and blinked, "Her? That's Autumn Michaels, Mush's new girl."

And that is how it all began...


	2. A little conversation

A/N: I have no one to bug me and stop me from writing for a while, so I think I'll write another chapter to this. I'll probably also be posting the first chapter of another story while I'm at it. I know I shouldn't, but it won't get out of my head...

David was interrupted in his story as his nephew tugged on his pant leg. Jacob frowned as he looked up at his uncle, "Uncle David, I'm thirsty. Can I have some water?"

David had Paulette get up so that he could go get the little boy's drink. As he was pouring the drink, he thought about the story that he was telling the kids. It certainly hadn't had a happy ending for him. With a sigh, he brought himself back to reality. He walked back out to where the kids were, handing Jacob the water as he sat down.

He frowned as he thought, "Okay, where was I before I went to get the water?"

Paulette piped up excitedly, "You had just saw the pretty girl and Papa had told you her name!"

David nodded, "Oh, that's right...Autumn Michaels. That was her name and it really did fit her. She was like the season, colorful and warm..."

**_June 8th, 1900_**

I knew from the moment that I saw her that I had fallen in love. There was no other explanation for the butterflies in my stomach. I was so out of it that I didn't notice her come up to our table. Jack had to kick me in the shin to get my attention.

I let out a groan of pain that quickly ended when I saw those chocolate brown eyes looking at me curiously. She had a pad and pencil in her hand, "Hey Jack, who are these two? I've never seen them before."

Jack smiled, "Hey Autumn. These are my selling partners, David Jacobs and his little brother, Les. They're Sarah's brothers."

He said that as if it explained everything. Who knows, maybe it did. She seemed to understand, though, because she looked at my little brother, "Hi there, Les. I've heard so much about you...I'm Autumn Michaels. I suppose you'll be wanting a hot dog."

Les nodded excitedly, "Yeah, that'd be great, miss! I love hot dogs. Can I get a water too?"

Autumn laughed as she wrote in her pad, "Of course you can. And what would you like, David?"

I wasn't prepared for her to turn her attention to me. I started to sputter and blush, so that she gave me a weird look. I finally cleared my throat and managed to get out something coherent, "Uhhh...I'll just have a boot rear. I mean, a root beer. Yeah, that's good."

She laughed again as she walked away, shaking her head. Jack gave me an odd look, "Hey, you all right?"

I frowned as I blushed even more, "Yeah, I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

Jack smirked, "Why do I ask? Let's see...because you asked for a boot rear. Davey, I don't think I've ever heard you say something wrong since I met you. Wait a minute...you like her, don't you?"

I shook my head and denied a little too quickly, "No, Jack...I just met her! I couldn't possibly like someone I just met like that. Besides, you just told me that she's Mush's girl."

Jack's smirk quickly disappeared as he nodded, "Yeah, they've been going out for about three months now and they seem pretty serious."

I thought about it for a minute and then frowned, "Hey, why haven't I seen her around before, anyways?"

Jack shrugged, "Well, she just got the job here last week and you haven't been to Tibby's for a while. Plus, you never come to the lodging house."

She came back with our stuff pretty quickly so our conversation was cut short. Nothing else really interesting happened that day, but I started going to Tibby's and the lodging house more. A lot more.


End file.
